Henrik

Österblom

PhD

Professor & deputy science director

henrik.osterblom@su.se

+46 8 674 76 64

@henrikosterblom

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Staff profile

Henrik Österblom's research focuses on ocean stewardship, global cooperation and marine ecosystems. He is also deputy science director at the Stockholm Resilience Centre

Profile summary

  • Marine governance
  • Transnational seafood
  • Corporations
  • Cross-scale interactions
  • Anthropocene
  • Fisheries
  • Seabirds
  • Baltic Sea

Österblom has a PhD in Marine Ecology from the Department of Systems Ecology at Stockholm University, and a Master’s Degree in Behavioural Ecology from the Department of Zoology at Uppsala University.

He is interested in ocean ecosystems and ways to improve stewardship of marine resources. Starting as a seabird ecologist, with a particular interest in social interactions between alcids, he has worked on understanding how the Baltic Sea is managed, how international collaboration emerged to address non-compliance in Southern Ocean fisheries, and how transnational corporations shape the present and future ocean. Ongoing work is focusing on the speed and role of science in society, global cooperation and altruism, and understanding cascading industry effects from novel sustainability approaches. He has worked at the Swedish Museum of Natural History, and as Special Advisor to the Swedish Government in the Secretariat for the Environmental Advisory Council.

Österblom is leading the Keystone Dialogues, a global co-production project including major private actors in global seafood, which has resulted in the establishment of the Seafood Business for Ocean Stewardship (SeaBOS) initiative, aimed to transform global seafood towards more sustainable practices. He is principal investigator in Nereus – Predicting the Future Oceans Program, and member of the IMBER Human Dimension Working Group, the Future Earth Knowledge Action Network and the Seas of Norden Network.

Österblom serves on the international advisory board of the South American Institute for Resilience and Sustainability Studies (SARAS²), as board member of Race for the Baltic, and represents Stockholm University in the United Nations Global Compact Action Platform for Sustainable Ocean Business. He is a member in the Expert Group for the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy.

Österblom represents the Stockholm Resilience Centre in the Section for Earth and Environmental Sciences at Stockholm University and is subject editor for Ecology and Society and PLOS One.

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Publications by Österblom, Henrik

The theory of cross‑scale interactions: an illustration from remote villages in Sikkim, India

Gupta, R., Haider, J.L., Österblom, H.

2019 - Journal / article

Interdependence of social-ecological systems (SES) across the globe is rapidly increasing through increased connectivity, for example, through flow of information and trade. This case study of highly remote Himalayan villages in West Sikkim, India, explores how cross-scale interactions can shape the development of a local SES. In-depth interviews across four different institutional scales—state, district, gram panchayat uni...

Tax havens and global environmental degradation

Galaz, V., Crona, B., Dauriach, A., Jouffray, J-B., Österblom, H., and Fichtner, J.

2018 - Journal / article

The release of classified documents in the past years have offered a rare glimpse into the opaque world of tax havens and their role in the global economy. Although the political, economic and social implications related to these financial secrecy jurisdictions are known, their role in supporting economic activities with potentially detrimental environmental consequences have until now been largely ignored. Here, we combine qu...

Corporate control and global governance of marine genetic resources

Blasiak, R., Jouffray, J-B., Wabnitz, C.C.C., Sundström, E., Österblom, H.

2018 - Journal / article

Who owns ocean biodiversity? This is an increasingly relevant question, given the legal uncertainties associated with the use of genetic resources from areas beyond national jurisdiction, which cover half of the Earth’s surface. We accessed 38 million records of genetic sequences associated with patents and created a database of 12,998 sequences extracted from 862 marine species. We identified >1600 sequences from 91 species a...

Marine fisheries and future ocean conflict

Spijkers J., Morrison, T.H., Blasiak, R., et al.

2018 - Journal / article

Conflict over marine fishery resources is a growing security concern. Experts expect that global changes in our climate, food systems and oceans may spark or exacerbate resource conflicts. An initial scan of 803 relevant papers and subsequent intensive review of 31 fisheries conflict studies, focused on subnational and international conflicts, suggests that four substantial scientific gaps need addressing to improve our unders...

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Österblom, Henrik

Stockholm Resilience Centre is a collaboration between Stockholm University and the Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

Stockholm Resilience Centre
Stockholm University, Kräftriket 2B
SE-10691
Phone: +46 8 674 70 70
info@stockholmresilience.su.se

Organisation number: 202100-3062
VAT No: SE202100306201